Bryce Michael Alford (born January 18, 1995) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for

Zastal Zielona Góra Zastal Zielona Góra, officially Enea Zastal BC Zielona Góra for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional basketball team that is based in Zielona Góra, Poland. The team plays in the Polish League and internationally in the VTB United Lea ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. He set school records for the most

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

s made in a game, season, and career. He earned first-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 as a senior in 2016–17. As a senior in high school in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, Alford set a state single-season scoring record, and was named the state's top high school player. He was named one of the top freshmen in the Pac-12 in his first season with UCLA. As a sophomore in 2014–15, he became the team's starting point guard and set the Bruins' record for most three-pointers made in a season. Alford moved to shooting guard as a senior, when he surpassed his own single-season record and became the Bruins' career leader in three-pointers made. After going undrafted in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, he began his pro career playing two seasons for the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as ...

in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

. He has also played in Germany and Portugal. He is the son of former basketball player

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...

, who was also his head coach at UCLA.

Early life

Alford was born in Manchester, Indiana, to Tanya and

, a college basketball coach and former professional player. His father was coaching at Manchester College at the time. By the time Alford was five, he would sit in on his father's locker room talks, and stood beside him during news conferences. Alford attended

La Cueva High School La Cueva High School is a public high school located in northeast Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, within the Albuquerque Public Schools District. Its mascot is the Bears. The La Cueva feeder schools include Desert Ridge Middle School, Des ...

in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He averaged 25.3

point Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

s and 4.6 assists in his junior year, when he also led the Bears to the Class 5A title game. In March 2012, he verbally committed to attend the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

, where he would play

under his father, who was coaching the

Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...

. He signed a National Letter of Intent to accept New Mexico's

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

offer in December. As a senior, Alford broke a 50-year-old New Mexico high school single-season scoring record with 1,050 points. He averaged 37.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 2.6 steals while leading his team to a 22–6 record and the Class 5A quarterfinals. For the season, he was named New Mexico's Gatorade Player of the Year. While he earned first-team ''Parade'' All-American honors, recruiting services did not rank him among the top 100 overall players nationally. He was ranked No. 44 at shooting guard, but he considered himself a point guard. Steve believed his son's commitment to play for him negatively impacted his ranking. Alford participated in USA Basketball's training camp for the

2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Czech: Mistrovství světa FIBA do 19 let 2013) was the 11th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U19 national team ...

, where he was eager to gain national attention.

College career

In March 2013, Steve became the coach at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA), and Alford followed him. The Bruins rarely sought players who were not four- or five-star recruits. With Alford rated a consensus three-star prospect, skeptics were wary of nepotism. In Alford's first season in 2013–14, his father groomed him over fellow freshman

Zach LaVine Zachary Thomas LaVine ( ; born March 10, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft with the 13th overall pick ...

to be the team's backup point guard behind starter Kyle Anderson. However, Alford started the season slowly, averaging only five points on 37.9 percent shooting through the first six games. Fans began questioning Alford's role compared to the crowd-favorite LaVine's, and he felt pressure to justify his scholarship. Alford cited two games that helped boost his confidence: an 18-point game early in the season in the

Las Vegas Invitational The Shriners Children's Open is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Nevada. Founded in 1983, it is the fourth event of the Tour's 2019–20 wrap-around season and is played annually in October in Las Vegas. It is currently held at the TPC Sum ...

, and a 20-point performance in the Pac-12 season opener against USC that followed his scoreless game against

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. On February 27, 2014, with stars Anderson and

Jordan Adams Jordan LaVell Adams (born July 8, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Club Atlético Aguada of Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He was the first UCLA freshman to score 20 or more ...

suspended, Alford scored 31 points in an 87–83 double-overtime loss at home to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. He became the first UCLA freshman since

Don MacLean Don Maclean (born 1942/1943) MBE KSS is an English actor and comedian, who appeared on the BBC television series '' Crackerjack'' with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze and Jan Hunt in the 1970s. Born in Birmingham, he attended Clifton Road S ...

in 1988 to exceed 30 points in a game. For the season, Alford averaged eight points and 2.8 assists in 23 minutes per game, and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. He and LaVine were named the Bruins' top freshmen. After Anderson and LaVine left UCLA for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA), Alford became the Bruins' starting point guard in 2014–15. Although he was considered more of a shooter than a true point guard, Alford was the team's only legitimate option for the position. Twice in the first three games he reached double figures in both points and assists to record the first

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

s of his career. On November 20, 2014, he scored 28 points along with a career-high 13 assists in a 107–74 win over Nicholls State. During a five-game losing streak later in the season, Alford had a streak of 19 consecutive missed shots, part of stretch in which he made just 5 of 39 attempts. Criticism for him being the coach's son was at its peak, but the team looked to him and senior

Norman Powell Norman WC Powell (born May 25, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Powell played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, where he was an all-conference ...

for leadership. At season's end, Alford received honorable mention for the All-Pac-12 team. Proving most major projections wrong, UCLA received an invite to the

2015 NCAA tournament The 2015 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 77th edition of the tournament began on March ...

, earning a No. 11 seed. In the Bruins' opener, Alford made four

s in the final four minutes and was credited with the game-winning three-pointer after a

goaltending Goaltending is a violation of the rules in the sport of basketball. It consists of certain forms of player interference with the ball while it is on its way to the basket. It is goaltending if a player touches the ball when it is (a) in downwar ...

call with 13 seconds remaining in a 60–59 win over sixth-seeded SMU. He finished with a game-high 27 points and connected on 9 of 11 three-point attempts, the most ever made by a UCLA player in the NCAA Tournament and tying the school record held by

Jason Kapono Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...

for the most in any game. Alford also broke the Bruins' single-season record for made three-pointers, held for eight years by

Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. As a junior, he was named a consensus All-America ...

. As a junior in 2015–16, Alford began the season sharing point guard duties with freshman starter

Aaron Holiday Aaron Shawn Holiday (born September 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The guard played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he earned All-American ...

. In the conference opener against

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Alford was shooting just 1 of 13 in the game when he made two three-pointers with 23 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and forced a second overtime with another tying three-pointer. UCLA lost the game and began the season 0–2 in the Pac-12, while Alford shot just 7 for 31. The Bruins ended their losing streak the following game when Alford scored 25 points and made the game-winning three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in an 87–84 win over No. 7

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. In the subsequent game against

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, he made a three-pointer with 24 seconds remaining in the game to secure an 81–74 win. He was named Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 21.5 points in the two games on 55 percent shooting. Alford was often clutch during the season, but he made just 38.5% of his shots despite leading the team in attempts. He finished the season ranked seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring with 16.1 points per game, second in assists with 5.2 per game, and second in assist-turnover ratio (2.7). The

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University ...

(NABC) named him second-team All-District 20, and he again received honorable mention for the All-Pac-12 team. Alford moved to shooting guard in 2016–17 after highly touted freshman point guard

Lonzo Ball Lonzo Anderson Ball (born October 27, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, he played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins, earn ...

arrived at UCLA. During the season, Alford established career highs shooting 48 percent from the field and 43 percent on three-pointers, and was named first-team All-Pac-12 along with teammates Ball and T. J. Leaf. He also became the first player in UCLA history to reach career totals of both 1,700 points and 500 assists. On January 12, 2017, Alford scored a career-high 37 points in a 104–89 win at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. He also tied his career high with nine three-pointers, helping UCLA set a school record with 19 three-pointers made. On February 25, he scored a team-high 15 points to lead the No. 5 Bruins to a 77–72 win over No. 4 Arizona, which also snapped their conference rivals' 21-game home winning streak. He also made 3-of-7 three-pointers to surpass his own single-season school record for three-point field goals made (93). In the regular season finale against

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, Alford made two three-pointers in a 77–68 win to tie Kapono's school record for career three-pointers made (317). In UCLA's opener in the Pac-12 tournament, Alford made two three-pointers to become the Bruins' career leader in a 74–69 win over USC. He finished his UCLA career as the fifth-leading scorer in school history, and graduated with a degree in political science.

Professional career

Oklahoma City Blue (2017–2019)

After going undrafted in the

, Alford signed with the Golden State Warriors to play on their summer league team. He later signed a training camp contract with the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

. Alford was waived by the Thunder on October 11, 2017, about a week before the start of the regular season; he had not played in their four preseason games. He joined the

, the Thunder's

team, as an affiliate player. In 2017–18, he started 27 of 50 games and averaged 15.5 points while made a league-leading 186 three-pointers at a 40.4 percent clip. After the season, Alford participated in the G League Elite Mini Camp, where he was the third-leading scorer (13.5 points per game) among the group of 51 players. He joined the Indiana Pacers summer league squad, where he was reunited with former UCLA teammates Holiday, Leaf, and Ike Anigbogu. Alford was signed to the Thunder's 2018–19 training camp roster on an

Exhibit 10 The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association teams are allowed to pay their players. Like many professional sports leagues, the NBA has a salary cap to control costs and benefit parity, defined b ...

contract, but was waived after playing sparingly in three preseason games. He was added to the

training camp roster on October 23, 2018.

Europe (2019–2021)

On June 28, 2019,

Medi Bayreuth Medi Bayreuth, official stylized as medi bayreuth, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bayreuth, Germany. It was re-founded as BBC Bayreuth in 1999. The team plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the highest division o ...

of the Basketball Bundesliga announced that they had signed Alford. On January 1, 2021, Alford joined

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

of the LPB in Portugal.

Windy City Bulls (2021–2022)

On October 14, 2021, Alford signed with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

, but was waived the same day. He joined the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thir ...

as an affiliate player.

Return to Europe (2022–present)

Alford joined

of the

for the 2022–23 season.

National team career

Alford was selected to play for the United States national team in their second round of qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup. He helped the US go 2–0 in their September 2018 games to extend their record to 7–1 with two remaining windows to play.

Career statistics

NBA G League

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, 50 , , 27 , , 30.9 , , .411 , , .407 , , .793 , , 2.9 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , .1 , , 15.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 50 , , 27 , , 30.9 , , .411 , , .407 , , .793 , , 2.9 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , .1 , , 15.5

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 1 , , 37.0 , , .600 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 19.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 1 , , 1 , , 37.0 , , .600 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 19.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, 37 , , 1 , , 23.1 , , .384 , , .385 , , .804 , , 1.8 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .1 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 36.3 , , .396 , , .391 , , .838 , , 3.2 , , 4.9 , , .9 , , .0 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 36.2 , , .385 , , .367 , , .831 , , 3.8 , , 5.2 , , .7 , , .0 , , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 33.0 , , .447 , , .430 , , .821 , , 2.5 , , 2.6 , , .5 , , .1 , , 15.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 141 , , 105 , , 32.0 , , .405 , , .397 , , .825 , , 2.8 , , 3.8 , , .8 , , .1 , , 13.6

Personal life

Alford married Ali Warner in 2019. He is a Christian.

Notes

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alford, Bryce 1995 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Germany American men's basketball players Basket Zielona Góra players Basketball players from Albuquerque, New Mexico La Cueva High School alumni Medi Bayreuth players Oklahoma City Blue players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards S.L. Benfica basketball players UCLA Bruins men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players Windy City Bulls players